The Starlight Expedition
by Jandhuin
Summary: From the journal of an old Scholar of Yuno comes a tale spinning Death, betrayal and a lot of crazy things into one. Please read and review, Thanks!
1. Day One: My Curiosity Wanders

_**From the diary of Lekh Turokh, One of the former High Scholars of the Five Casters, Ancient Order of Yuno City….. **_

**Day One: My Curiosity Wanders....**

I really don't know why I have started keeping a record of my own personal thoughts....but I guess having to pore over too many books and record unnatural occurrences have finally caught up with me. Although I find it ridiculous to introduce myself to myself, I nevertheless feel that it indicates a new beginning in my life. Lekh Turokh is my name. Or it is according to my superiors who told me when I was a child. I didn't grow up under any parent's care other than the one person who would later found the Order of five, Ranhar Tomoth. I'am known as one of the most widely acclaimed scholars in Rune Midgard. I was once among the Order of Five (when I was younger and carefree), people who nurtured the minds of those yearning to become a bright young sage and if possible be made a scholar after necessary study. Oh I'm terribly sorry but I can't really describe about myself very much. I'am not like those who have good looks or those who wear a wise beard and have taken to other things in their lives. You could say that I' am a friendly person who likes to have fun, go on adventures and so on. But that would be too optimistic and I wouldn't want you to regret it once you have got the hang of what I truly do.

I have taken to studying and research in all kinds of gemstones and the amazing purpose they serve in the discovering of newer spells. Of course that is a boring job but it is always rewarding at the end. I have been hoping that one day I would create something special enough to help all the people around here. There you go, that's about it. Oh there's one last thing if you aren't tired reading this......it's my curiosity. I know it's a weird thing to be talking about, but it is this curiosity which has led me to make marvels out of thin air and unfortunate tragedies as well. But I have come a long way and I won't turn back now. Not when I' am close to revealing the place on which no living soul has set foot before. From here on I begin my journey towards darkness. Towards death. Towards peril to the nation of the dead. Niffleheim. One might wonder if I have become insane at my age of fifty, not to mention my childish nature of wanting to know everything, but I really intend to travel to that cursed place. I don't know whether it exists and I'm not about to find that right now in the middle of the Pronteran market.

One thing you have to really appreciate about this place is that it's like the central market area in the whole continent. Not that you wouldn't expect it to be so but you could get all sorts of things over here even if it means to get it in the "other" way. But don't get the wrong idea though. I'm not here to investigate these kinds of matters which are better left to the guards, although I suspect that they are being bribed into leaving these acts alone. I have taken to reading books on the land of the dead and their principles of afterlife. I have come to a point where the information contained by these books is not enough. Looking at the contents, one can decipher how many myths and legends are contrasted with real life incidents if looked upon with a careful view. The excellence lies in the way they are transformed into such stories that people make comparisons immediately and start following them as a way of life. But let me not deviate from my purpose for today. If everything goes well...I might just be able to get the higher order seal from King Tristan III and hopefully a delegation to accompany me as well on my journey.

I wondered if that would be that simple as I walked to the royal court and humbly stated my purpose before His Majesty. The result: being branded as a madman and a laughing stock in front of all the courtiers, one of them being the court jester who glared at me as though I had usurped his position. I was shown the exit far too quickly.

However, one person was genuinely interested in my efforts and he happened to be a young magician in training by the name of Sakron who greeted me at a tavern. An entertainer was singing a recitation which seemed to call wizards to take up arms and defend themselves from the oncoming doomsday. As we talked over a drink in the tavern, the young mage revealed that he was fascinated by the tales often told in front of campfires about the land of the dead. Few people rarely considered these stories and others brushed them aside as merely tales told to frighten young children. As for me I was deep in thought about how I was going to travel so far to a place which was shrouded in reality and fantasy.

"Mister Turokh?" said the mage a little louder than before. Eventually he waved his hands in front of my eyes until I gave a start. I was holding my half-finished tankard halfway to my mouth with the rest of drink having generously occupied my already dust worn robes.

"Ah yes?" I said setting the tankard down on the table. It would be a long time before I would consider drinking anything unless I was not daydreaming, "You were saying about the Geffen tower?"

"Precisely", said Sakron, "I've heard about the wonders that wizards perform at the topmost level and of the perils that lurk in the lower dungeons. Oh by the way you do believe about the city being built on the ancient land of Geffenia don't you sir?"

"As to that Sakron, I cannot be sure. I'm not even sure about my own destination."

"But this is different" said the young mage sounding confident, "There is evidence to suggest about Geffenia being buried in its own destruction by the infamous Doppelganger and his league of nightmares and his army of abysmal knights."

"How did you come by this "evidence" you speak of?" I asked surveying him closely. He seemed just the kind of a companion I would like to travel with and a likely candidate to become a bright sage.

"Well I had to research on it for quite a bit before I could be sure that I wasn't playing around with myself. It's all there in the old books of the library which strongly support the incident but somehow they never seem to mention the exact date. I say it happened behind the author's own house yesterday and I' am the witness for it."

And he suddenly began to laugh like a child lost in mirth.

"Sometimes I crack the best of jokes don't you feel so mister Turokh?",he said doubling over. The whole tavern's attention was suddenly turned upon us like birds watching their prey. Obviously they weren't happy to be interrupted. Sakron looked around throwing furtive looks at everyone as though waiting for applause.

I blinked. Was I taking a madman along with me or just another man who seemed on the edge of his own curiosity? I straightened, apologized to everyone and sat down. The atmosphere seemed to lighten at a snail's pace. I was the one who was the madman according to everyone except this young lad.

"Of course you make a good joke. But it doesn't get widely appreciated when it's intended only for the person sitting right in front of you", I said smiling.

I noticed that he seemed to gather that much from his glum look the next moment. Talking loudly about dangerous things like Niffleheim and Geffenia wasn't much the best thing to do these days, even if they were just tales. Besides we had been discussing about other trivial issues for a major part of the day and it was now well into dusk.

"I think we better leave it here Sakron", I said, "Lets worry about Geffenia and its merry band of monsters tomorrow. I need to turn in early if I have to wake at dawn. I'll be staying at the Pronteran Royal Inn. Do visit me there later if you need me."

"Of course sir. I daresay I will eventually come to you around tomorrow at noon? Perhaps we can decide when to leave for Niffleheim", he said grinning.

"Perhaps," I said and the meeting was broken. He said a quick goodbye and left hurriedly only pausing to listen to a few lines of the entertainer's song before he closed the entrance door and he was gone. He would be spending a few days at his uncle's place before returning to his home at Geffen for his further studies. I wondered if this lad's parents would approve of me taking this fellow along with me. Thinking that I would worry about this later, I paid for the drinks and headed out in the direction of the inn. The innkeeper chanced a suspicious look at everyone who was entering the inn when I entered and greeted me with obvious flattery. Still he was happy that he had managed to have many customers today and was greedily eyeing their money bags from time to time whenever he thought no one was looking. Refusing his generous offer to "help put things in order" in my room the next day, I started climbing the stairs leading to the inn's rooms, each stair making a creaking noise whenever I thought of my journey once again.

I stopped short at the head of the stairs and proceeded towards my room. The door leading to my room was slightly ajar. That's weird, I thought. I could remember closing it properly when I left the room earlier this day. Maybe the maids had been inside to make sure everything was proper or the innkeeper himself had chanced a peek to make sure that I wasn't smuggling anything worrisome under his nose. As I closed the door behind me, I saw an envelope addressed to no one in particular lying on the table next to my belongings beside the bed. I thought hard. I did make sure that the door wasn't open when I left the room earlier this day and I had surely not left an unaddressed envelope lying around. I casually took it and opened it as I sat down on the bed. The envelope contained a folded paper inside. The next moment my eyes widened as I saw what was the piece of paper inside the envelope. The paper had the familiarity of a royal object and it became more ludicrous when I unfolded and looked at it more clearly: someone had left me a paper bearing the seal of the king himself with orders to soldiers to accompany a person on an "important journey"…

It had been a tiring day for me and something like this turned up and left me wide awake when I should have been fast asleep instead by now. I pondered many possibilities, some including kind people in the court who risked their heads to help someone and others which had me brought before the court for stealing a royal order. I wondered whether this letter would help me but I wasn't eager to find out. Thrusting this under a watchful guard's nose would most likely make him suspicious rather than aid me in this. Then again, these were strange days. The frequency of the Dark Lord's attacks on Payon seemed to have increased at an alarming rate and it was only a matter of time before he burnt down the entire town. How he managed to gather such forces no one could comprehend for he seemed to summon monsters and demons from thin air. Some whispered about Niffleheim but didn't sound as though they believed it themselves. Payon was already brimming with zombies inside the sealed off area at the archer village which didn't look that strong anymore. With zombies at large and the Dark Lord himself at their doorsteps, the inhabitants of Payon had a lot to think about as their means of escape were now blocked from almost all sides save the route to Alberta. That road was long and treacherous enough to make the bravest adventurer faint with exhaustion. There wasn't one night without attacks by more monsters that seemed to gather courage with each attack on Payon.

As a result there had been a plea from Payon to send the most elite soldiers from Prontera, Lord Knights, to help stabilize their slowly crumbling forces. Voices were raised and decisions made in other cities as well on sending their own forces. Geffen had finally agreed to concentrate all of its Wizard and High Wizard manpower available to aid Payon while the High Priests in the Holy Sanctuary in Prontera had decided that now was the time to put an end to the Dark Lord's evil schemes. Aiding them were Crusaders and Paladins, powerful warriors of the light who always struck terror into the undead. All over Rune Midgard, each adventurer was rushing to lend his hand to the battle from the Agile Assassins of the Desert to the mighty Archers and Hunters in Payon who were fighting desperately day and night to help hold the monsters at bay. I thought of heading over to Payon but _what use would an old man like me be to them?_ I thought. I could share my knowledge with them but I would only get in the way. I put the letter containing the king's seal into my rucksack at the very bottom for fear of it being noticed by someone else. I locked my door properly and lay down on the bed. Sleep was something more precious to me than a letter right now.

* * *

A/N: This is my first ever fanfic. Hope you enjoyed reading the first chapter! Will update the second one soon enough. And oh yes, please review my work when you have time. Your constructive comments are most appreciated. ^_^


	2. Day Two: An Unlikely Encounter

_**The second day page of the journal seems to be in a bad condition with pieces of paper missing at the side but nevertheless, the words don't seem hard to make out….**_

**Day Two: An Unlikely Encounter**

_I have, in the strangest way introduced the reader of this journal to my life which can be expressed as boring at one point and weird at another. As I sit down and record my thoughts right now, I would like to remind myself that I'm not entitled to the safety of the inn anymore and that Prontera is now miles away. I wonder how this came to be but it is partially answered when I glance at my two companions who are now fast asleep. One is Sakron the mage of course, attempting to try and snore even if he was asleep, bless him. The other is a man whom I know nothing much about. So how do you ask I ended up sleeping under a tree with a lad whom I just met a few days back and a total stranger? I better start explaining, like how a person caught red handed does rather than miss a day without writing in this book._

The next day I woke up a bit late in the inn. I had hardly cleared my eyes of drowsiness when I found Sakron the mage grinning broadly. He was standing near the door and seemed to give the impression that he had entered the room minutes before. _Ah well_, I thought. _Might as well get ready now_.

"Good Morning sir," said the mage in a very good imitation of a Geffen Magical Academy student, "I hope you had a good night's rest."

"Yes I did", I said.

"No strange dreams or nightmares where you fought off monsters with powers? Good. I must say I'm disappointed but at the same time, I'm glad I didn't scare you about my tales of Geffenia," he laughed.

"Well the place I'm going is the real thing and it makes Geffenia look like a playground," I said and the smile slid from his face.

"How did you get in anyway? I believe I made sure that the door was firmly shut," I rose from my bed and started checking my inventory.

"Well sir this inn has a rather jovial and kind innkeeper. Kindest innkeeper I would say, provided you have that much gold to keep him happy enough to help you," Sakron said winking.

"Did anyone else come in before bearing the "kindness" of that innkeeper by any chance?"

"No sir. The innkeeper wanted to have a look though. Said he was making sure of things he didn't want around his place but I convinced him sure enough when he realized crossing me would mean gold running away from his greedy hands."

"I see", I said feeling relieved. A royal letter from the palace would attract unwanted attention let alone a greedy innkeeper who was ready to snatch whatever he could reach. I didn't feel like sharing the letter with anyone at this time, not even the mage. Besides, I was starting to feel uncomfortable due to this innkeeper's nosy attitude. He did seem to have an awful suspicion of me somehow.

"So Sir, When do you plan to leave for Niffleheim? If we leave first thing in the day, I think we might be able to reach Geffen in about two days."

"I'm thinking of first requesting the King to aid me with a few soldiers on my journey," I lied. He might have made a nice companion for me but unfortunately he was too young for this. I didn't want him to waste his life on a foolish journey. At the next chance, I would somehow need to divert him and be on my way.

"Wonderful! What a coincidence! I'm heading to the court myself today and I would be glad to give you company!" He said and I groaned inside.

_Well I did try_, I thought. _That's one plan drowned in waters_.

Still I wasn't going to give up. The thought of Niffleheim scared me less than his uncle running after me with vengeance with a whip in his hand. Not to mention his parents who would most likely treat me with Fireballs and Lightning from the sky if anything happened to their son.

"Well," I said, "I'm going over to the market now. It's good to prepare if I'm leaving soon."

_Might as well try and lose him in the crowd at the same time._

"An excellent idea Sir," said Sakron, "I have plenty of gold with me so please feel free to ask me if you need any."

"Better not let some people hear that," I muttered.

"Oh don't worry sir; I'm a kind person who always helps everyone. I shall make it known to all the amount of gold I have."

"I………..didn't mean that," I said almost hitting myself on the head with the magnifying glass I was putting into my rucksack.

The mage didn't seem to have heard me and was instead reading a book which was titled "Life among Umbala residents". I sighed and picked up my rucksack. The mage closed his book and started to follow me down the stairs. While going down, I hoped that my rucksack would never be opened by anyone else save myself. I thought about its contents and the letter which was now packed firmly along with all my other possessions. My companion seemed to think along the same lines.

"Say mister Turokh. Why have you packed all your stuff? Are you like going somewhere else today?"

_Yes. Out of this cursed inn and away from Prontera if I can somehow make it out in one piece alone. You will be safer back with your uncle than with me_, I thought.

"Well yes Sakron. I plan to leave at the earliest once I'm finished here. Now why don't you stay with your uncle till I finish my work?"

"But what about the King?" said the mage sounding a little disappointed, "Aww I really wanted to meet him and the elite guards of Prontera. I've heard they are so tough that even the Dark Lord himself lacks their endurance. I want to come with you."

_Foiled again_, I thought. _What would it take to drive him away from me without him realizing it?_

He seemed so calm about Niffleheim or to tell the truth, more excited about the prospect rather than being frightened. Not the average person you would see everyday. The Lord Knights themselves had taken off as soon as the King let them go to reach Payon before it was too late. Delay of external help would only aid the Dark Lord in carrying out his sinister plans faster. Not to mention, the morale of his forces seemed to rise greatly with each attack which usually involved a lot of casualties. Resistance was the need of the hour and that monster of a zombie had to be somehow defeated or at least driven back before he brought more chaos. I thought once more about my decision. It irked me a little that I was not there in Payon and doing whatever I could to prevent the situation from becoming worse. Here I was, running off in the opposite direction on a crazy journey while countless people were being terrorized day and night. People who had long forgotten that a word called _safety_ still existed in the world.

"The Dark Lord", said I as we reached the foot of the stairs, "is a more formidable creature than you think. If he were not, then he would not be feared as much as he is."

Sakron nodded a little in agreement and appeared lost in thought. He walked on forward across the inn's common room before he stopped and realized that he was almost face to face with the innkeeper who suddenly beamed as though spring had come early. Sakron looked taken aback for a moment but he regained his composure and grinned a little before reaching into the pocket of his robes. He pulled out a shiny gold coin and tossed it into the air which landed right in front of the innkeeper's feet who followed it like a vicious animal stalking its prey and snatched it up with surprising agility. His eyes glinted merrily as he told us how he _saved _the beautiful coin from the _treacherous_ ground and was bowing a little too much for hospitality.

"Come back anytime good sirs. Master Rashmed of the Pronteran Royal Inn wishes you a safe journey. Should you need my services again please do not hesitate to drop in", he said.

He held out his hand expectantly to Sakron who shook it immediately and looked around importantly as though he was a lord. Clearly he was enjoying it when half of the common room was looking at him and whispering a lot. Sure enough I was handed not a generous handshake, but a bill which seemed to look as though he had altered it to his liking. When asked about it, the innkeeper replied with a faltering long face "Taxes sir. They increase faster than filth everyday" which left me rather unconvinced. I was happy enough to rid myself of this place and the innkeeper much faster. However, I paid what I remembered was the proper price which I was told when I first stepped into the inn. I turned a deaf ear to the innkeeper's protests which died as soon as Sakron immediately paid the remaining money and hurried to follow me out of the inn. I grumbled a little to myself about crazy people and stepped out into the sunlight. The sun overhead told us it was close to noon time so I went back in for a quick brunch and stepped out with Sakron feeling slightly better.

Still I felt resigned to the fact that shaking off this young fellow was no trivial matter. As we walked in the streets leading towards one of the most famed markets in Rune Midgard, I couldn't help but try to reassure myself that there was no possibility about the letter being found. Being searched before entering the rich district of the market was commonplace and I had no intention of straying away from the common district. The rich district usually housed merchant's shops who could afford to hire guards and mercenaries to protect them from unwanted situations while at the same time having enough to tide them over for days even if sales were not good. After many requests from their side of the Prontera Trading Association, the court allowed the explicit use of a previously unwritten rule which was to check anyone entering the rich district for anything suspicious.

Unfortunately, the court had decided to make it a double edged rule. Displeased with the change in the resolution as they were, the rich merchants themselves were being checked by the guards before opening their shops. This was always greeted by regular sniggering everyday from a few people from the common market district who seemed to have waited ages for something like this to happen.

The common district was about two times larger compared to the rich district and was usually crowded from dawn to dusk. This was where any person could hope for an opportunity to buy something at a cheap price(although quality was questionable) and also sell his wares. Having been overruled by the association and forced to form separate districts a few years ago, they had a hard time adapting to their new found spots but were gradually getting used to it.

As we finally reached the common market area, I could not help but notice many pairs of eyes on me and my rucksack. The guards thankfully were not interested in anyone else other than those who were attempting to enter the rich district which was walled high in stone and had deadly spikes at the top daring anyone to intrude. The only way inside it was a huge space with gates wide open. It also had its own share of people hurrying in and out of the rich district but looked dwarfed compared to the humongous crowd at the other place. It was a good practice to not be seen alone in the crowd and taken advantage of by thieves who would either sweet-talk people into giving up their possessions or they would silently snatch away objects and make off before the owner knew he was missing something.

Sakron set off at a brisk pace and I was forced to follow him due to the crowd moving in the same direction. To make myself more secure, I had taken to holding my rucksack firmly in my arms. We finally pulled ourselves out of the crowd in front of a shop which claimed to sell swords and daggers of every kind. Beaming with sudden enthusiasm Sakron entered the shop at the same time the shopkeeper, a tall burly man looked up while sharpening a dagger.

"If ya are selling something, I don't want any. Now get outta here before I get real serious," he barked in a rough voice.

"That is not the way you speak to a customer," said Sakron all enthusiasm gone, "You ought to be more polite."

The shopkeeper looked startled for a moment before he burst out laughing.

"You've got some nerve lad! Telling me what to do in my own shop is only something fools would try. You? A customer? I can see that you can barely hold your puny little rod along with that book. You're telling me you will buy a sword? Don't make me laugh!"

"I wouldn't say that if I were you," said Sakron in a low voice, "My grandfather served the Pronteran Royal Guards as a knight in his time. I swear he would have put an end to your words if he were here."

"Yeah right. And my mom is the Queen of this forsaken world. Why don't you go play with your grandpops? Perhaps you will learn to keep your cool."

"Oh yeah? I'm not leaving till you sell me a sword. I'll show you that I can stand my ground."

The shopkeeper's eyes flashed dangerously.

"Let's go Sakron," I said shouting over the noise of the crowd, "This isn't what we came here for remember?"

"Ya should listen to oldie here sonny. Or you'll be sorry you ever saw me," the shopkeeper bared his teeth into a smile which didn't reach his eyes.

I reached forward and grabbed Sakron's shoulder.

"What are you waiting for?" I asked in a hurried voice, "Do you want to draw attention to ourselves? Have you forgotten how much trouble will follow us?"

"But Sir, he was the one who started it in the first place."

"That's enough. I don't want anymore ridiculous situations if I can prevent them. And if it would help you remain quiet, I'm not taking you with me if you act in a childish manner like this."

_There. Go on. Lose your temper. Say that you don't want to accompany me._

But Sakron calmed down and the shopkeeper brandished the dagger he had been perfecting menacingly. I noticed that the crowd had suddenly gone quiet over all my shouting. The shopkeeper moved strangely as he seemed to cower in fear and hurriedly stowed away his dagger inside a desk. Before I could comprehend what was happening, a cool voice of steel carried through the whispering crowd.

"And what do we have here? What's this entire ruckus about?"

I turned to see a figure pushing its way through the crowd with little effort as people realized what was going on and quickly jumped out of the way. The figure drew closer and my eyes widened as I saw who it was. The man wore mails of armor on his body and had a cape on his back with the uncomfortably familiar crest of the Prontera Knight Guild imprinted on it. The Knight entered the shop and his eyes glinted with amusement when he saw the shopkeeper.

"So here I' am, strolling through the market, minding my own business when you decide to throw yet another bucket of trouble Gerdan?"

The shopkeeper winced slightly (was that even possible?) when he was the taller of the lot and spoke in a meek voice.

"No….no nothing your knightship sir," he said, "Just a small matter."

His eyes darted repeatedly towards the crowd as though he would rather be among them than in his own shop.

"Didn't I tell you not to call me that?" said the knight in a bored voice, "And ah…who might you be my dear gentlemen?"

His gaze wandered over Sakron who looked mildly curious and landed on me. The knight frowned slightly and I barely stopped myself from groaning out aloud.

_I was a fool. Trying to keep the prey safe, I had wandered right into the lair of the person who was looking for it._

"I see," the knight surveyed me closely; "You are Lekh Turokh are you not?"

I was taken aback for a moment and released my grip on Sakron's shoulder.

"How do you know me?"

"How do I know indeed? Well excuse us if a person who was once in the top order of Yuno goes unnoticed," said the knight lazily rubbing his hands on his sword and carelessly shaking the scabbard.

Sakron was blinking in amazement and I could tell that it wasn't because of who I was. About a few moments ago, you would have thought that this knight was completely unarmed until now. Until he decided to show what he carried around as though he had a secret pocket inside his cape. Such skill screamed aloud the immense potential of the knight and it was no surprise that Gerdan himself had settled for looking frightened. Foolish thing to think about. What kind of a knight moved around without a blade? Yet there was something uneasy about this man which I could not push away from my mind.

"Let's see. First thing's first," the knight continued, "Right. You Gerdan shut up and forget that I was here. As for you both, follow me."

He beckoned and started towards the crowd and we had no choice but to follow. As we exited the shop, I could have sworn that I heard Gerdan express a sigh of relief. Getting out of the marketplace was easy now that the crowd was quite happy to not get in our way. Thousands of eyes followed us as we walked out and took another path. We were all silent for sometime as we walked on until I decided I should know what was going on.

"Where are we going honorable knight?" I asked, "And if I'm not intruding, who are you?"

The knight's expression grew dull as he turned back to speak.

"And I thought you were the smartest of your little group. Does anything say you are allowed to ask questions about me?"

"At least tell us where we are going?" Sakron asked angrily "These days I say anyone can play at a knight if they had a cape like that. How do we know that you are what you claim to be? Honestly, my grandfather would have---"

I silenced him with a sharp look. The knight continued to look at us with the slightest hint of a smile.

"I expect whatever your granddaddy would have done, surely he would have given you a real something for being so noisy. Well it's no big deal. This road will take us straight to the knight guild."

_Great_, I thought bitterly._ Just what I needed to make things even worse._

We walked on with no more talking and reached the entrance of the guild where the knight talked with the guards and greeted the PecoPeco trainer who was busy trying to separate the birds away from what was evidently a furious fight. Covered in feathers from head to toe, he barely said hello to the knight before he was seized by a particularly angry PecoPeco and it got him involved in the fight.

We were told to wait outside and the knight rushed in. After what seemed like over an hour, he came out accompanied by eight swordsmen who looked as though they had run a thousand miles.

"Master Windsor," one of them asked nursing bruises on the head with his hands, "When do we get to know about our results?"

"Hmm?" Windsor thought for a while, "Well let's say right about tomorrow. Now head home and wait for us to call you. Understood? Good day to you all."

The swordsmen bowed to the knight and scattered in all directions, some of them congratulating their friends and others talking about the hospital.

Sakron, who had been watching the PecoPeco fight with an air of childish amusement turned and spoke just as the PecoPeco trainer shouted, "What are you laughing at kid?"

"Windsor?" Sakron said in wonder, "Are you really him? Wow I never thought I would actually meet Sir Windsor himself!"

The knight laughed.

"Half right and half wrong as always," he said and I felt that he was starting to become annoying with his sense of superiority, "Yes I'm Windsor but not the man you seek. My brother is away on an urgent assignment in Payon. My name's Alery Windsor."

"No wonder you know about me then," I said nothing, "Your brother is quite famous."

"That's right. Oh and by the way, you would be hard pressed to squeeze even one word out of my brother's mouth. He's silent alright."

"So what business do you have with us?" I asked making sure that my rucksack was closed properly. I felt very uncomfortable in this place.

"Nothing much. Just that I take care of the testing in my brother's place and handle the swordsman to knight promotion."

"Well excuse me, I'm a mage," said Sakron looking bored, "If I remember correctly, I wasn't going to try and dance around with swords. Now can we leave? I'm getting bored with only that trainer over there for entertainment."

In the midst of a furious fight, the trainer's angry red face rose above the feathers to glare at Sakron for a moment before he got dragged away again. Alery flexed his muscles.

"Well but it also turns out that you were going to try and buy a sword from Gerdan right?" he said in a cool voice "And for your entertainment, you both will accompany me deep into the Pronteran sewers outside the city to investigate a disturbance inside."

"Go into the what?!!" Sakron said angrily, "Listen you. It was that shopkeeper's fault that had to get us involved with you. We have done nothing wrong and have no intention of going into that place. Let's go Sir."

"Apologies but we must leave immediately," I said in a polite voice and followed him.

We were barely a few feet away when Alery's voice stopped me in my tracks.

"Fine. Go. That letter you possess won't fetch you anything to get yourself out of trouble then."

"Are you speaking nonsense?" asked Sakron, "What letter---"

"Quiet Sakron!" I said in a commanding voice and surprised myself, "What are you talking about……….Alery?"

The knight started walking towards us calmly with his right hand's index finger pointed at me.

"You know….." he said in a low voice, "That treasure of a letter lying deep inside your rucksack. What would happen if that was discovered? My, my there's an angry bunch of royal people over here."

Sakron moved forward until he was almost face to face with the knight.

"Are you threatening us with gibberish or are you simply out of your mind?"

Alery lowered his hand and smiled.

"Well why don't you ask your good friend over there and he will tell you nice and long that I mean business."

"What is he talking about ?"

"I don't……..know what to say Sakron," I said not meeting his eyes, "Things have been a bit strange the past two days and to top them, someone left me an unaddressed envelope bearing the royal seal. I was surprised considering that my request before the king was laughed off as ridiculous."

"Wait," said Sakron looking as though he was putting two and two together, "This means you already visited the king? You said you were going today! You lied!"

"Oooh," Alery called out in a childish voice, "Looks like he has a rather nasty habit of keeping many things hidden."

I ignored him.

"Sakron, the reason I didn't tell you is simple. I didn't want you to risk your life and possibly your sanity and accompany me to……well that's what I was thinking."

Sakron just stared at me. I could tell he was thinking hard. Of all the times I had tried to get rid of him, this was the genuine opportunity. But I couldn't bring myself to say anything else and felt part miserable and part confused as on what to do next. In the long silence that ensued, only the knight had anything to talk about, muttering about the shine on his sword and how he was going to deal with the PecoPeco outburst later.

"But……..why?" Sakron managed to speak, "Why would you do this Sir? That was what you were trying right? You tried to get rid of me. We have so many things in common and planned so much and yet now you expect me to trust you? Explain why!"

He almost shouted out the last two words.

"I didn't want to anger your family over this trivial issue. What would make me separate a family over my own selfish desires? Nothing Sakron," I said soberly.

No reply greeted my ears after I finished. Sakron was staring at me as though I was a total stranger. Probably the Knight couldn't take anymore of this and he went ahead of us signaling to follow him without another word. As we reached the West side gateway blocking access to the outside world, the guards looked at us suspiciously but then again, that was all the emotion they showed on their faces during these troubled days. The Knight's presence was enough to clear the order to open the gate and we walked on into the open wilderness.

The sun was beginning to set and lumberjacks were seen returning back after a long day's work. Lush green grass covered the ground complimented by healthy trees all over, standing witness to what was hailed as a magnificent garden in itself. The walk to the sewers entrance was short and we came upon a soldier standing guard by the entrance with the door locked tightly behind him. He barely had time to stifle his yawn when he saw us approach. Recognizing the Knight, the soldier flashed a formal salute which was promptly returned by the Knight and unlocked the door with a large bronze key which looked as though it had been used for many generations. The Knight talked in a low voice and listened as the soldier whispered something in his ear. Looking grim, he entered the sewers and we followed with me wondering as to what could have happened to make this fellow look like that.

As we made our way deeper into the area, I couldn't help but notice that the thiefbug infestation was a lot over what could be seen as normal and worsened the more we traveled. Even Sakron, in the sulky mood he was couldn't help uttering a word of disbelief. Alery had now started to cut through a mob of huge blue colored thiefbugs trying to massacre him before he went beyond with his sword. His movements now resembled an irritated child who was annoyed because something had not gone as he had expected.

We reached the end of what I though of as a……….tunnel of sorts with oil lamps at the top providing light to the area and dark murky water splashing beneath. We entered a small passageway which led us to a huge chamber having little or no water flowing in the waterways.

Alery stopped suddenly and I almost walked ahead of him realizing that he was staring at something. Sakron's mouth was open a little and he was gaping like a child. Wondering what it was, I took a clearer view and saw something I had almost walked into, a few feet away. A huge something I recognized as the notorious master of the endless amount of thiefbugs. The golden thiefbug lay on the ground still as sand and didn't move one bit. But the situation didn't end over there. The problem was yet another golden thiefbug beside it. There were, I realized with a shock, twin golden thiefbugs.

_But why and how?_ I thought.

One didn't move and the other was apparently asleep looking at the light flutter of its wings from time to time.

"What the heck is going on?" the Knight wondered aloud.

I looked closer and saw red. Red colored drops were dripping down, staining the color of the twin bugs and it pointed to a trail of blood on the floor. I followed it and rounded a corner. A man lay unconscious on the hard floor drenched in a pool of blood. He was in an assassin's clothing and he clutched a strange object in his left hand of which only a faint yellowish tip could be seen.

"Over here!" I called out in a panicked voice, "There's someone here and he's badly injured!"

The moment I said this, my eyes darted automatically towards the object in the man's hands which slipped a little from his grasp and was glowing brighter than the sun, almost blinding me with the light. Suddenly the knight was there beside me and he was talking something. We stared at each other in confusion when we saw what happened next. Pure white people walked in and out of the chamber as though there were numerous invisible portals over here.

Alery regarded this with a look suspicion on the object and took a good look at the man on the floor. He frowned a little and nodded as though he had just understood something and sighed. I asked him what he knew about it but he didn't reply. He wore a worried look on his face as he looked at the object in the man's hand.

"We……you both have to get out of here and away from this place as soon as possible," he said.

I looked at the strange object once again. It looked……..broken? Or was it somehow incomplete? I couldn't put a word to it. But somehow it seemed familiar to me.

"What are you talking about?" I said sternly, "I believe that you know something about this. You had better tell me if it has something to do with me and Sakron."

The Knight's gaze never wavered from the unconscious man. He took a deep breath as though he was starting to tell something forbidden.

"I……that is something you should have already known," he pointed to the object, "I never imagined it would be found here. That is the………….Sobbing Starlight. Or rather a part of it."

I found myself frantically searching for answers. How was it possible? The artifact which was presumed to have been hidden away deep in the legendary city of Geffenia was now staring at me in the face. Geffenia was at its worst with its share of horrible abominations in the area. What soul or person could have possibly…….?

"But………how?" I began when the knight interrupted me.

"The question is not why or how great scholar……the question is when", he said closing his eyes for a moment, "When did this cursed object appear in Rune Midgard? And where is this going to end…….dear me."

I silently agreed about him that it was indeed not such a good thing to possess the Sobbing Starlight. Very few knew about its capabilities and one of them was my own mentor, Ranhar Tomoth, the person who would care for me and turn me into the great scholar I was now. I wondered about what his reaction would be if he learned about this. However, how the knight seemed to know about this at the first glance surprised me.

"How do you know about the Sobbing Starlight?" I asked.

Alery bent down and tried to lift the man up.

"It was my brother's warning. He called for me alone before he left for Payon. I was informed that it was all connected to what was happening with the undead right now. I didn't heed him at that time, wondering how my silent and tough brother was now speaking about stuff only found in legends. And then in the end he told me the truth. _"Look out for the Sobbing Starlight_," he said. He described everything he could and left before he stopped and expressed his last assumption to me."

"And what was it?" I asked expecting the worst.

Alery looked at me as though he was going to refuse that bit of information. After thinking it through for a few moments however, he spoke through gritted teeth and began to lay the man down on the floor again.

"I…don't believe it. But if my brother actually went out of his way to tell me about this, I guess I'll have to take it seriously. It's grave . The attack on Payon was not a co-incidence. Someone has summoned the Dark Lord into this dimension with cruel intentions," he said.

My heart skipped a beat. _It couldn't be! What kind of a sinister power could have summoned the even more sinister Dark Lord over here? The appearance of the Sobbing Starlight in a place like this didn't improve matters. Something was seriously not right_, I thought.

As Alery finished searching the unconscious Assassin, the man's suddenly jerked awake as though he had just been given a shock and sprang onto his feet, the Sobbing Starlight held firmly in his hands. Blood dripping from the wounds on his face, he began to shout as he ran as fast as he could towards something in the way we had come.

"STOP! DARN YOU! DON'T DO IT!"

Alery and I turned around with looks of confusion evident on our faces when reality dawned on us. Sakron was right next to the sleeping golden bug beside the dead one. The worst part was, I realized as we began to run as well: Sakron's magic rod was inches away from the bug as he reached over to poke it while at the same time, a magical glow surrounded him. The assassin managed to catch hold of Sakron's hand but it was too late. The blow had already reached the top of the bug's head. As it reared its ugly head to face any oncoming onslaught, the assassin smacked Sakron with a blow to his face which sent him flying a few feet.

"WHAT THE HECK WERE YOU DOING YOU BLITHERING IDIOT? Now let's get out of here before anything else happens."

"I was just poking it to experiment with a new spell I think I've invented," said Sakron defensively, "And besides its non-aggressive."

"Non-aggressive my filthy hands! Don't you have any common sense to know that it becomes aggressive when you attack it?"

"How did you come to have that object?" demanded Alery as we both drew nearer to Sakron, "Let me see if it is truly---"

"Do we have time for investigations you brainless dimwit?" the assassin interrupted(_"Ha! Take that you proud Knight," said Sakron in a low voice_) as the golden bug let out a shriek and dived head on towards us. We got scattered and the golden bug chose to inch closer towards Sakron who desperately threw whatever spells he knew at it. Nothing seemed to work as it reached him and suddenly, it stopped and gazed at the assassin who seemed to struggle to stand on his feet as the Sobbing Starlight started glowing again. With another cry, the bug sped towards him with unnatural speed and the assassin threw the object in my direction as he jumped out of the way. I hastily picked it up from the blood stained floor, stuffed it into my rucksack and ran for the exit as the assassin dodged the bug's yet another attempt to maul him and followed me. Alery hurried over to drag a shocked Sakron onto his feet and in an instant they were right behind us with the golden bug on a rampage on their heels. We managed to lose it somehow as we ran harder and the exit was drawing nearer by the second. When we were almost at the exit of the sewers, I tripped on a dead thiefbug and fell face down on the hard floor. I hurriedly got back into a sitting position with my nose almost broken but the golden bug was nowhere to be seen and my rucksack had split open with the pressure of too many objects and the Sobbing Starlight lay on the floor.

The unnatural glow was back and as I touched it, I was thrown backwards by an unknown force and we heard a shriek as the golden bug stepped out in front of us as though there was a portal here. The same force also threw the Sobbing Starlight and the rucksack into my grasp once again and the others rushed over to help me get back on my feet. We had no way out, I thought, as the bug got ready for another strike. The only way to the now distantly visible exit was blocked by it. It wasn't content to sit still now that it had somehow managed to catch up with us and charged, its eyes twinkling with the light emitted by the Sobbing Starlight.

I felt the object turn red hot in my hands and I almost dropped it when I realized I was lying on the ground covered in grass.

"What the……" was all Alery could manage to blurt out as he sprang to his feet.

"Are we safe?" asked Sakron.

The assassin was faster and hurried over to the guard outside the sewer entrance.

"The door! Shut the damn door!" he said attempting to get past the guard.

"Wait a sec…" said the guard eying him apprehensively, "You're the one who tricked me and got into---"

"THAT DOESN'T MATTER NOW! SHUT THAT DAMNED DOOR AND SEAL IT NOW OR WE ARE ALL TOAST!"

The guard looked hesitantly at Alery who hurried over to talk with him. He peeked inside for a moment and the next second, the guard closed the heavy door with an oath and locked it with all his might. His face was pale as he turned to face us. Nearby, people were starting to gather, curious about what was going on.

"What happened Sir Alery?" asked the guard urgently and looked at the assassin, "And why is HE with you? I bet he was up to no good."

"No time to explain," Alery glanced around at the small crowd of people who were now pointing at the assassin and his wounds, "Were you the only one who saw us first?"

"No Sir. Lot's saw you. One moment it was green grass and the next moment you all appeared out of thin air a few feet above the ground. I hope you aren't injured Sir?" He looked at us expectantly but his worst fears were confirmed when he took a good look at the assassin.

"That's a relief. Let's just get out of here and there's no harm done," said Sakron heaving a sigh of relief.

"Speak for yourself after starting this mess in the first place," the assassin muttered and staggered to hold his ground again as he began to bleed more. Alery shooed away all the onlookers and hurried over to us.

"All of you leave immediately. Head towards Comodo, the land of gamblers. Wait over there for me. I'll come and find you. And get that guy some first aid somehow," he said looking at the assassin.

"But why----" began Sakron when the knight interrupted.

"Just go darn it. Take that man with you and keep that object safe from all eyes. Heaven only knows what misfortune it might bring next. Word will begin to spread in Prontera now that we have all caused such a ruckus. Best you leave before anyone else comes to look for you. Now hurry! I'll meet you at Comodo."

The knight hurried away in the direction of the Pronteran west gate and the three of us set off on our journey with a generous gift, a first aid box from the sewer guard, unlikely to know where this was going to end.

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A/N: Second chapter up! If you enjoyed it please leave a review! If you have suggestions and feedback as to where I can improve, please do leave a review! Your constructive comments are valuable and very much appreciated! ^_^


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